British Muslim Clerics Release Fatwa Against Islamic State

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03 September 2014 9:10

Muslim leaders have issued a fatwa condemning Islamic extremist group Isis, and have said that British jihadis are “betraying their own societies” by getting involved in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

The fatwa represents the British Muslim community’s strongest denunciation of Isis yet, calling the extremist group “heretical” and “an oppressive and tyrannical group.”

According to The Sunday Times, the fatwa, authored by Sheik Usama Hasan, a former imam from east London, and supported by six senior Islamic scholars across the country, says it is “religiously prohibited (haram) to support or join” Isis.

Though Muslims have a “moral obligation” to help the Syrian and Iraqi people, they must do so “without betraying their own societies,” the fatwa states.

Baroness Warsi, former Foreign Office minister: “These are substantial figures and I welcome this announcement. The Islamic State is neither a state nor Islamic. I echo the words of these religious leaders.”